At a glance

Day by day

1. Arrive in Cairo. You are met inside the terminal, walked through immigration and driven to your hotel. Nothing is scheduled — the flight from the States is long enough on its own.
2. Giza in the morning, while the light is still low: the three pyramids, the Sphinx and the Valley Temple. The Egyptian Museum in the afternoon.
3. Fly to Aswan. Philae Temple on its island, the High Dam, then aboard the cruise before dinner.
4. Sailing north. Kom Ombo, the only temple in Egypt built for two gods at once, then Edfu, reached the old way by horse-drawn carriage.
5. The West Bank at Luxor: the painted tombs in the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut’s terraced temple against the cliff, and the Colossi of Memnon.
6. The East Bank: Karnak, then Luxor Temple. Fly back to Cairo in the evening.
7. A free day in Cairo. Khan el-Khalili, Coptic Cairo or the Citadel if you want them — and nothing at all if you do not.
8. Transfer to Cairo International for your flight home.

Abu Simbel can be added on the Aswan day as an early morning flight. Ask when you enquire.

At a glance

Day by day

1. Arrive in Cairo, met at the aircraft door and taken to your hotel.
2. The Giza plateau in the morning — Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, the Sphinx below them — and the Grand Egyptian Museum after lunch.
3. Fly to Luxor. Karnak while the afternoon heat drops, Luxor Temple as it lights up, then aboard the cruise.
4. The West Bank: the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Hatshepsut and the Colossi of Memnon. The boat sails for Edfu in the afternoon.
5. Edfu, the most complete temple standing in Egypt, and Kom Ombo in the late light.
6. Aswan. Philae Temple, the High Dam, and an afternoon on the water in a felucca if you want one.
7. Fly back to Cairo. The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, the Citadel, or a free afternoon — your choice on the day.
8. Transfer to the airport for your flight home.

Abu Simbel fits on the Aswan morning as a separate flight. It is not included in the price shown.

At a glance

Day by day

1. Arrive in Cairo and settle in. No sightseeing on day one.
2. Giza: the pyramids, the Sphinx and the Valley Temple, then the Egyptian Museum.
3. Fly to Luxor. Karnak and Luxor Temple, then aboard the cruise.
4. The West Bank: the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut’s temple and the Colossi of Memnon.
5. Edfu by horse-drawn carriage, then Kom Ombo, shared between Sobek the crocodile and Horus the falcon.
6. Aswan: Philae Temple, and the Nubian Museum, which is the best single explanation of what the High Dam cost the people who lived here.
7. Abu Simbel, early. Ramses II cut four seated versions of himself into the cliff, and the whole thing was sawn apart and lifted eighty feet in the 1960s to save it from the rising lake.
8. Back to Cairo. A Nubian village afternoon in Aswan first, if the flight times allow — your guide will tell you honestly whether they do.
9. Transfer to Cairo International for your flight home.

At a glance

Day by day

1. Arrive in Cairo, met at the airport and driven to your hotel.
2. Giza and Saqqara: the three great pyramids and the Sphinx, then Djoser’s Step Pyramid, which is older than all of them and the first large stone building anyone anywhere had ever put up.
3. The Grand Egyptian Museum in the morning and the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir in the afternoon — the new one and the old one, which hold different things and are worth seeing in that order.
4. Islamic and Coptic Cairo: the Citadel, the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, and Khan el-Khalili at the end of the day, when it fills up.
5. Transfer to Cairo International for your flight home.

A day trip to Alexandria, or a flight down to Luxor and back, can be added to the middle of this itinerary.

At a glance

Day by day

1. Arrive in Cairo and check in. Nothing scheduled.
2. Giza and the Grand Egyptian Museum.
3. Fly to Aswan. Philae Temple, then aboard the five-star cruise.
4. Kom Ombo and Edfu, the second reached by horse-drawn carriage.
5. The West Bank at Luxor: the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut’s temple and the Colossi of Memnon.
6. Karnak and Luxor Temple in the morning, then the drive across to Hurghada on the coast.
7. Hurghada. Snorkelling, a dive, a desert afternoon, or none of it.
8. A second free day on the Red Sea.
9. Fly back to Cairo and check in.
10. The Egyptian Museum, the Citadel and the Mosque of Muhammad Ali.
11. Khan el-Khalili if there is time, then the airport.

Sharm El Sheikh or Marsa Alam can replace Hurghada if you would rather dive somewhere quieter.